GDPR Compliance: I am not collecting any personal information of any reader of or visitor to this blog. I am using Blogger, provided by Google to host this blog. I understand that Google is using cookies to collect personal information for its Analytics and Adsense applications. I trust that (but has no way to verify) Google has incorporated the necessary data protection features in their applications

18 February 2014

What will you do if your job sucks?.....


Very interesting...

More than the article, the comments are very informative. There are people who just quit the job, to those who stuck it out. There are few who opted for better challenges and there are others who just gave up. Some stayed to learn, some stayed because they did not have options, some stayed so that they can pay the bills...

Interesting.

While reading the article and the associated comments, I was reminded of my first job. I stayed all of 9 years in the job and hated most of it. It was my first job, opportunities were scarce (I was jobless for about a year after graduation before I got this job). I worked for a Steel Plant, I had a lousy work environment, stupid boss, great colleagues, was in a totally unfamiliar place....

But I still stayed on.

There were two reasons why I stayed. One was that there were not many opportunities. The candidates from the place that I worked had a reputation for bad work culture and no one wanted to touch us with a barge pole. Once you get a couple of rejection letters, your interest in sending your CV veins, especially if you were of low self esteem, which I was suffering from. So I stayed on for want of better opportunities.

The second reason that I stayed on was more spiritual. I wanted to prove to myself that I can continue doing stuff that I disliked. It was my first job and I did not want to give up on it. Having stayed for about 5 years, when I wanted to leave, the job market was closed for people like me. So I continued.

But I did not give up. After about 9 years into my work, I did a two year full time MBA, after taking sabbatical from my company. That was the best decision that I took. All my classmates were much younger than me but I put in my best effort at studies and did reasonably well. 

Having done my MBA, it took me another 5 years before things fell in place for me. I got into IT and found that I had a natural flair for providing IT Solutions to Business. I did projects, I did consulting assignments.....

Knowing what I know now, would I have behaved differently?

Of course, I would have. I would have quit the day I first realized that disliked my job. Lack of confidence in myself and my decisions kept me tied to this company for far too many years than I care to remember. I still have nightmares that I am jobless and am going to my erstwhile boss to give me a job and him insulting me...

They say that you have to take decisions with your heart. Those are the decisions that you own and you will make it work. To stay for 11 years (9 years plus 2 years Sabbatical) in a job that I disliked was a decision that I took with my head and to which my heart rebel even today.

What did I lose by staying in a job that I disliked?

I missed a lot of opportunities that came to India in the early 90's. That was the beginning of IT revolution and I was there, bang in the middle of it, and the entire 90s passed me by. I joined IT industry on 1st December 2000 and since then it had been an enjoyable ride. I am sure that if I had quit when I first wanted to, I would probably have struggled a bit, but would have been much better off working in an Industry that fits with my capabilities.

But remember what they say. There is something called destiny and you will get what you have to get only when it is time for you to get it. No point in getting frustrated, but keep trying. 

Above all, if you don't like your job do something about it. Learn something new. Do something different. Write. Learn a new language. Read some wonderful books, watch good movies.

Whatever you do, do not give up on yourself. You are the best there is...

I am curious. What would you have done if you were in my shoes? How you have handled a situation like this. How have you reacted to being in a job that sucked? What action did you take to overcome it? What would be your advice to someone who is in a job that he hates, especially if you know that he / she has some talents that he is probably not aware of or not using?

Your responses could be valuable to the readers of this blog who are in similar predicament...

So do comment on....

No comments: